We Were Wolves
by Shelly Lane
Summary: Ever wonder why the "Beauty and the Beast" wolves attacked Belle and why they weren't in the forest at the beginning of the movie? Well, one of them is here to explain everything. The story begins years after the spell has broken. Disney owns all.
1. Chapter 1:  Tonight

**Chapter One: Tonight**

"You're late."

My sister extended her arm to help me keep my balance as I bowed before the masters.

"I humbly beseech Your Majesties to forgive me," I replied. "I assure you it won't happen again."

Her Highness frowned. "Why do you always do that?" Before I could ask what she meant, she explained, "The other servants call me by my first name and treat me as their friend. You always seem to distance yourself, addressing me by royal titles and kneeling at my feet. Why do you do that?"

"You are the queen," I replied, respectfully lowering my eyes.

His Majesty crossed his arms in front of him. "I want the truth, and don't try to avoid the question. It isn't like you to be late for dinner. Tell me what happened."

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. "If it pleases the king to know, I tripped."

"Tripped?" he asked.

"Your Highness, I walk with a limp. It is very easy for me to trip, and when I do so, I have difficulty getting up," I answered.

He nodded. "Yet my forest is tended better than any other woodland in Europe. I don't know how you and your friends manage."

"We are highly honored to be of such great service to Your Majesty," I responded.

I thought that was the end of the discussion, but during dinner, the masters asked the royal children their opinions of lunch in the forest the next day.

"Lunch outside?" the young princess asked.

"Yes," the queen answered. "We will bring our lunch to the stream that runs through the forest, and we'll sit down and eat while listening to the birds sing. Maybe we can even pick a few flowers. Would you like that?"

"But what about the wolves, Maman?" protested the prince.

The king frowned. "Wolves?"

I suddenly lost my appetite, but I continued eating anyway.

The prince explained, "The servants told us the story, Papa. They told us how you used to be a big, ugly monster, and Maman used to be a peasant. The servants themselves used to be household objects, and there were wolves in the forest."

"We don't want to be eaten by the wolves," the princess added.

I wanted nothing more than to excuse myself from the table and spend the rest of the evening in my room, but I stayed.

The masters looked at each other. Then, as if on cue, they both started laughing.

The queen stated, "There aren't any wolves in the forest anymore. The servants make sure of it." She smiled at us, silently congratulating us for a job well done.

I wished I could crawl under a rock and stay there.

The king must have noticed my discomfort. "Are you alright, Monsieur?"

"All is well, Your Majesty," I lied.

"So there would be no problem if my family and I were to eat lunch in the forest tomorrow?" he asked.

"None at all, Your Highness. For the sake of my sovereigns, I shall hope the good weather continues."

My sister and I talked in the library later. It was the only place we could think of where we wouldn't be interrupted.

"You can't keep the secret forever!" she pointed out. "What are you going to do when the masters learn the truth? What are you going to do when their children find out what we used to be?"

I stared out the window. "I'm surprised they don't know already. It's just that obvious. During the spell, everyone turned into what their name is. Lumiere became a type of light. Mrs. Potts became a teapot."

"Not _everyone_ became what their name is!" she protested.

"Most people!" I argued.

She nodded in agreement.

I changed the subject. "You asked me what I was going to do when the royal family found out. What are_ you_ going to do?"

"It doesn't matter as much with me. I'm not the one who bit my own master."

"You had to say that, didn't you?"

"Hush! Others will overhear us if you raise your voice!" she warned. "They'd put an end to our secret meetings in the library, and then where would we talk?"

"The West Wing?" I joked.

My sister rolled her eyes. "Be serious!"

We heard the sound of footsteps approaching, and someone knocked on the library door.

"See what you've done?" she whispered.

"Is everything alright in there?" a voice asked.

"Mrs. Potts," I stated. "She won't tell."

I limped to the door and opened it. "Come in."

"I was having trouble sleeping," Mrs. Potts began as she stepped inside the library and shut the door, "so I decided to get up and make some tea. As I was strolling through the corridor, I overheard voices in the library, and I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"We meet here to talk sometimes," I confessed.

"I see. Well, I wouldn't wish to interrupt, so I'll just…"

"You're not interrupting," my sister replied. "We like your company."

"Are you sure, dear?" Mrs. Potts asked.

"I'm sure."

"How's your arm?"

My sister sighed. "Still broken. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but…" She shook her head, unwilling to finish the sentence.

"Does it hurt you?"

"I admit having a permanently broken arm does make it a bit difficult to work in a forest, but after all these years, I'm used to it."

Mrs. Potts turned to me. "And your leg?"

"I usually don't even think about my limp anymore, but there are times when I wish…"

"You mustn't complain, Loup," my sister interrupted.

"How did you get your broken limbs?" Mrs. Potts inquired. "I've wanted to ask you before, but I've never had the chance."

"It happened during the spell," I answered.

"I feel sorry for you both. You've had physical injuries for years, but I sense you also carry heaviness in your hearts. I won't ask questions that are none of my concern, but if you ever want to share anything, I'm here for you."

I did want to share. I knew Mrs. Potts wouldn't tell the masters, so with my sister's approval, I explained everything.


	2. Chapter 2:  Childhood

**Chapter Two: Childhood**

Once upon a time, there was a young man who knew nearly everything about animals. Both farmers and scientists envied his knowledge, and everyone predicted this man's erudition would one day make him superfluously wealthy. He fell in love with a beautiful woman who knew as much about flora as he did about fauna. They got married and were prosperous for a few years, but then they lost everything and were forced to live as beggars.

One day, the woman realized that their lives would be blessed with a child. Everyone told her she would have a healthy son, and she did, but on the day her baby was born, she came to the startling conclusion that she had been expecting twins.

"You will have another son," she was told. "He will be as strong as his brother."

The woman, my mother, was surprised when she brought a daughter into the world. Instead of a brother, I had a twin sister.

"How will we afford to feed and clothe two babies?" my father asked. "We can barely provide for ourselves."

"The forest," my mother had whispered. "It will provide everything we need if we are clever enough."

In those days, the kingdom was ruled by a selfish tyrant. He never entered the forest, but he forbade his subjects to do so. The penalty for anyone caught invading the royal forest was death.

My parents were too crafty to be caught. They chopped down trees to use as firewood, gathered herbs for medicinal purposes, and killed game for food. What they didn't use, they sold for enough money to purchase what they needed.

When my sister and I were barely old enough to walk, our parents began taking us to the forest every day. They would point out flowers and birds. By the time we were five years old, we knew how to avoid getting lost, how to find food, how to climb trees, and what to do in case of emergency.

"Above all else," our mother explained, "you must never make a sound. The king's guards patrol this forest."

That was the hardest lesson of all. If anything frightened us, we must not gasp loudly or scream. If we wanted to run, we had to do so silently. If we were injured, we must not cry out. If anything amused us, we must not laugh. If we wanted to talk to each other, we must speak very quietly. As young children, we found it extremely difficult to be silent, but we gradually learned.

By the time we were preteens, we were staying in the forest more often than we stayed at our own home. The woodland had far more room and was much more comfortable than our hovel. We loved ice skating in the winter and rolling down hills in the summer. It was so much fun that it was easy to forget we'd pay with our lives if we were caught.

In addition to our lessons about the forest, our parents made sure we were trained in proper etiquette and almost every chore imaginable. They wanted to make sure we'd have better futures.

"If you learn a variety of skills," our mother explained, "you will be able to do any job. This will impress someone into apprenticing you, and you will grow up to lead prosperous lives and have respectable professions."

There came a day when the tyrant who ruled the kingdom was blessed with an heir, Prince Adam. Even as a fussy newborn, Prince Adam showed every sign of growing up as pugnacious as his father. When the baby was only a few weeks old, the king and queen carried him into every town and commanded the peasants to greet him.

My sister bowed before the monarchs. "I honor Your Majesties, the king and queen of the realm, and I pay tribute to the little sovereign, heir to the throne."

They nodded and dismissed her. When it was my turn to bow, Prince Adam started crying as soon as he saw me. I knew then that we would never be friends. I didn't think much of the incident. Beggars didn't often make contact with royalty, so I was sure I would never see him again.

The next day, my sister and I found a stray puppy that the other children were tormenting.

"I feel bad for him!" my sister remarked. "He's an outcast like we are. He needs a home."

We brought him to our hovel.

"What shall we name him?" I asked.

"Do you remember the story about the wolf and the dog who were friends?"

I nodded.

"In that story, the dog's name was 'Sultan.'"

The puppy barked and licked my hand.

I picked him up and set him on my lap. "Nice to meet you, Sultan. I'm Loup. That's my sister, Louve."

"I was supposed to be named after the Louvre," my sister explained to the puppy, "but there was a mistake at our christening."

"And I was supposed to be named 'Louis,'" I added, "but with my twin sister being named 'Louve,' everyone just assumed my name was 'Loup.'"

I'm not sure Sultan understood, but he wagged his tail. He was a good puppy. He loyally followed us to the forest, proving himself to be extremely useful. We trained Sultan to help us find game for meals and warn us if the royal guards were coming. Surprisingly, he was actually very quiet, the perfect companion in a forbidden forest.

Perhaps the idea of the poor being happier than the rich is true, for while the royals raged in their castle, we frolicked happily in the woods. Even though we were beggars, there was nothing more we wanted in the world.

One day, we were playing with Sultan in our yard. Prince Adam, by then a monstrous little toddler, was on a royal progress with his parents. When he passed by our hovel, we bowed.

"Puppy!" Prince Adam exclaimed, reaching his greedy little arms toward Sultan. "Me want!"

One of the knights accompanying the procession seized our dog. "By order of His Majesty, Prince Adam, the future king of France, you are hereby commanded to present your dog as a gift to please the heir to the throne."

Louve and I were pretty quiet for the rest of the day. There was nothing left to say; we had lost our best friend, and we would never see him again. We missed Sultan, but we didn't dare defy royalty.

I was the first to break the silence. "I hate the prince."

My sister gasped. "Loup, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for even thinking such a thing!"

"Prince Adam is a miserable beast, and I'd kill to see him get what he deserves!"

She shook me by the shoulders. "Don't you dare say that! He may be a miscreant, but when we are older, he will be our king! Don't you dare speak against him! Please. I don't want to see you die."


	3. Chapter 3:  Servitude

**Chapter Three: Servitude**

The inevitable happened. One day while we were in the forest, I was caught. Prince Adam was out for a walk, accompanied by his finest knights. Although he was still a child, he already had a temper.

"You're invading my forest!" he exclaimed furiously.

I knelt. "I humbly beg Your Majesty's pardon if I have caused offense in any manner. I do not mean to invade the royal forest; I merely wished to visit a relative in a distant town and thought perhaps a shortcut would…"

"Not through my forest!" he interrupted.

"I can see I am not welcome here, so I will leave immediately."

"You will not leave at all!" he shouted.

"Sire?"

Prince Adam turned to the knights. "Behead him at once!"

The knights tried to reason with him. "Your Highness, you are but a youth. There will be plenty of time for you to order executions when you become an adult. If he promises never to disrespect Your Majesty's laws again, why not let him go?"

Prince Adam's face was red with anger. "Do not question the commands of your prince! Remove the invader's head!"

"Sire, why not be merciful? He has barely reached adolescence! He is still a child like you. Should children order each other's deaths?"

"KILL HIM!" Prince Adam yelled.

One of the knights turned to me. "Young man, for what I am about to do, I am exceedingly sorry. I don't believe you deserve this, but I must not disobey the prince. Have you any last requests?"

"May I be buried in the forest?" I asked.

"Upon my honor, you shall be," he replied. "Any last words?"

"My last words are for His Highness, my prince," I responded.

"You may speak them now."

I turned to Prince Adam. "Mark my words! The day will come when you will regret every unkind deed! Someone will eventually have the audacity to punish your tyranny, and I hope I'm around to see it! _Tombez mort_!"

Immediately I wished I hadn't said any of it, but it was too late for regrets. I should have at least refrained from telling him to drop dead. That alone was treason.

I saw the sword glistening in the sunlight as it was raised behind my back. I tried to bring happy memories to mind so Prince Adam's cruelty wouldn't be the last thought I ever had.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to see who had spoken. I was the most surprised of all when my sister knelt by my side.

Addressing Prince Adam, she began, "Your Majesty, this young man has no doubt committed a great offense against you and should suffer the worst possible consequences for his actions. Death is far too merciful for such a disgraceful criminal! Should he not have a worse fate?"

"Like what?" Prince Adam retorted.

"If he gives up all he knows, would that not count as losing his life? He could serve you forever to show how sorry he is, and he would still be under your power. If you kill him now, you will never have control over him again. Would he not be more useful to you alive than dead?"

"What can he do?" Prince Adam asked.

"Since he has invaded your forest, he obviously has extensive knowledge of the woodland," Louve answered. "Your royal guards could remain at the castle to protect you instead of having to patrol the woods. This young man would tend the forest for you! He would keep it safe from invaders, and he would make sure there were no dangerous wild animals or problems with the ecosystem."

After a long pause, Prince Adam finally replied, "Very well. He will be my servant and take care of my forest."

Louve hugged me and whispered. "I'm so sorry, Loup. I didn't mean to make you his servant, but it was the only way I could think of that would convince him to spare you. Try to serve him well so he won't imprison or kill you. I'll miss you so much!"

"It's okay." I hoped I sounded braver than I felt. "Now I have permission to roam the woodland any time I want. My job is to take care of the forest I love. I couldn't ask for a better life."

She held both my hands as tight as she could.

"Really, it's alright," I assured her. "This morning I woke up in a hovel. Tonight I will go to sleep in a castle. Everything's fine now."

"Oh, I hope so! I hope you'll be happy!"

"By the way, thank you for saving my life."

She embraced me again. "You're welcome."

Prince Adam rolled his eyes. "Are you coming, servant?"

I bowed. "Yes, master."

The prince and his knights escorted me back to the castle.

"Cogsworth!" the prince shouted. "There's a new servant here! Take him to meet the others!"

Cogsworth did as he was ordered. I feared I would never remember everyone's names, but I knew I would never forget their unkind comments. Many of them had been born to nobility or aristocracy. They stared at my simplistic clothing and bare feet, frowning when I told them I was a beggar.

One of the musicians acted like he was about to have a heart attack. "The master hired a beggar to guard the royal forest?"

"I hope you're not thinking that you'll find happiness by marrying someone wealthy!" one of the maids added.

"I'm sure he's had no such ideas," Mrs. Potts assured everyone. "He can't help the fact that he was born to a poor family, and there's no shame in that. I'm sure you all remember your first day here and how frightened you were, so why don't we all try to make him feel welcome?"

"Right you are!" agreed Lumière. "After all, I'm sure someone working in the master's forest will be a great help to us all."

He turned to me. "What is your favorite food? I will see to it that the royal chef prepares it tonight in your honor."

"I don't have a favorite food," I replied. "There have been times when I've gone days without eating, so I'm grateful for whatever food is placed before me."

"You work for royalty now!" Lumière reminded me. "We'll find you a favorite food! Don't worry!"

They served me many elaborate dishes that night, all of which tasted delectable, but I would rather have dined on pottage with my sister in our hovel than enjoyed the most splendid feast in the prince's castle. Mrs. Potts seemed to sense my unhappiness, and she spoke words of comfort to me.

"It'll turn out alright in the end," she promised. "You'll see."


	4. Chapter 4:  Enchantment

**Chapter Four: Enchantment**

I quickly adjusted to my new lifestyle. To my delight, Prince Adam ignored me most of the time. Whenever I needed a moment of peace, I stepped into the forest. Prince Adam had only given me one rule about my job: If I saw any invaders, I was to kill them, no exceptions. I detested that command, but I had no choice. For the record, I never had to kill anyone. Not many people cared to visit the forest in those days.

Once I saw a group of young men about my age. I knew I had to comply with the prince's horrible order, but then I had a better idea. I brought the "invaders" before Prince Adam.

Kneeling, I began, "Your Highness, it is a great deal of work giving the royal forest the proper care it deserves. If it pleases my sovereign, let these young men work with me. I shall be their supervisor so they do not trouble Your Majesty."

He scowled. "Only if you will pay them out of your own salary and promise under penalty of losing your own life that they will do enough work to make up for the extra food necessary to serve them."

"I vow your conditions will be met, Sire."

"And where are they going to sleep? I have no more rooms to spare!"

That was a lie, but I didn't dare contradict him. "They shall have my room until more suitable accommodations can be arranged."

Prince Adam sighed. "Remember this was your idea!" He dismissed us all with a wave of his hand.

Working together, my new employees and I built our own house in a clearing in the forest. It was large enough for everyone to have his own room, and there was even a small kitchen. We stayed there more often than we stayed in the castle. The master didn't seem to notice, even though I did ask his permission before beginning the process of building our small home.

Realizing life wasn't as bad as I had feared it would be, I sent word to my sister, begging her to join me. At first, I feared my new friends would have trouble submitting to a woman, for I made Louve my equal in authority over them; however, she insisted that I give her equal responsibility. Believing that a good leader is nothing more than a good servant, we worked together to make sure our workers would have everything they needed, always taking the most arduous tasks for ourselves and never making demands. Our employees declared that they could not ask for finer bosses.

"Are you happy, Loup?" Louve asked one Christmas night as the two of us strolled through the forest together. "We have friends and respectable professions. We even have Sultan back!"

It was true. Since Sultan had gone to live at the castle before we did, we had been reunited with him.

"You're right," I replied. "We have everything we could want."

Suddenly, my sister gasped.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Your face!"

I put a hand to my face and felt it was covered with fur. As I wondered what could have gone wrong, I suddenly noticed my sister's ears had changed. They were now triangular and rested on top of her head. Her nose lengthened and became dark. When I pulled my hand away from my face, I noticed I had a paw.

"Louve, we're becoming wolves!" I exclaimed.

"What could have happened?" she asked. "Surely we were not bitten by werewolves, if there are such things!"

I managed to sneak into the castle, which was no easy task considering I was suddenly without opposable thumbs. When I saw the talking household objects, I was sure I was just having a bad dream, but they assured me that this was really happening.

"An old woman came to the castle, and the master turned her away," Cogsworth explained. "It turns out she was a beautiful enchantress, and to punish him, she placed a spell on the castle and all who live here! The master is going to be a beast until he can learn to love someone and have that person love him in return."

I sighed. "This spell isn't ever going to be broken, is it?"

When I broke the news to my sister and our friends, they were devastated, but none of us showed our grief. We knew we all had to be strong for each other's sake.

"We're all in this together," Louve told them. "We'll find a way out of this mess somehow. Besides, how better to learn how to take care of the forest than by temporarily living as the creatures who inhabit it?"

Life as a wolf wasn't all that bad. I suddenly understood the language of the animals who live in our woodlands, and living in the forest was really no big shock for me after all the time I'd spent there as a human. However, it was harder to find food. My sister started stealing livestock from farms in order to make sure our friends would eat. Even though we made sure the others had three meals a day, just as they would if we were still people, Louve and I often went hungry.

Once during her raids, my sister was shot by an angry farmer. The bullet only grazed her shoulder, but I could tell she was in pain.

"It's no problem," she assured me calmly. "Those who steal like wolves deserve to be punished accordingly."

Another time, someone shot her between the ribs with an arrow. She was still too brave to complain, but I felt sorry for her. I feared the arrow would work its way in deeper and deeper, eventually killing her. She must have thought the same thing, but she still made an effort to be cheerful. One day, I noticed the arrow was gone.

"There is another castle," she explained. "Prince Adam's cousin lives there. She's nothing like him. Her heart is as warm and gentle as the May sunshine. I was walking by her castle last night, and she was standing on a balcony. She saw me and said, 'Wolf! If you can understand what I am saying, stay where you are! I'm coming down to see you!'"

"And you did?" I asked.

Louve nodded. "I must question her wisdom in opening the castle gate for a wolf, but she told me, 'I'll make you better if you keep still and promise not to bite.'"

"Did you tell her you could talk?"

"No. I didn't see any reason to let her know. Anyway, she removed the arrow and cleaned the wound. I can't tell you how wonderful the relief felt!"

"Is this cousin under a spell too?" I asked.

"Of course not! The spell is over Prince Adam's castle, not hers!"

"What's her name?"

"She didn't say."

"How old is she?"

"About our age," Louve replied. "I wish you could meet her. She might be a good friend."


	5. Chapter 5: Humanity

**Chapter Five: Humanity**

Every year during the spell, Louve would announce, "We are one year closer to being human again! Let us rejoice!"

However, I noticed that one year she forgot to say as much. When I reminded her, she took me aside.

"Loup, this is the last year! If the master doesn't find someone to love soon…!" She didn't have to finish her sentence.

By that winter, we had lost all hope. The master's birthday was approaching faster than anyone cared to admit. My sister and I tried to be brave so our friends wouldn't despair, but they could sense that we had given up.

One night an old man came to our forest. I remembered the command the master had given me so long ago. All forest invaders were to be killed, no exceptions. I hated myself for doing it, but I had no choice but to give the order that he be murdered. The elderly gentleman ran to the master's castle and rattled the gates, begging for help. The gates opened for him.

Louve reached through the bars of the gate and grabbed the man's boot. "You can't go in there! The master's a beast! He'll do worse to you than we would!"

However, she had given her warning in Lupine rather than French. As a result, the man didn't understand her. He just thought she was trying to rip his limbs off. We were sure the excitement was over for the evening, but what we didn't know was that this man had a beautiful daughter. She came to the castle to rescue him from our master, the beast. Apparently, the master had made this man his prisoner, and the young woman was offering to be prisoner instead.

Later that evening, the girl ran away from the castle. I made the worst mistake of my life, and I'd do anything if I could change the past and make it so this never happened. Remembering that I must kill all who invaded the forest, no exceptions, I told my workers to take the life of this innocent lady.

My sister claimed she wasn't a murderess, but that didn't stop her from trying to eat the horse. However, her plan failed when the horse kicked her, breaking her arm. After that, Louve refused to continue the attack.

We chased the young peasant and surrounded her. Just when we were about to go in for the kill, a hideous beast appeared. In a moment of folly for which I will never forgive myself, I forgot the beast was my own master and attempted to slaughter him. I was the one to administer the wounds on his arm that the young woman later tended. To this day, he still has the scars.

The master was not the only one wounded. During the fight, several of the other wolves got broken ribs and other fractures. The bones in my own leg became arranged in the shape of an "X" rather than two parallel lines.

After the conflict, my sister solemnly informed me that we were going to die. "Do you know how successful injured wolves are when they hunt? Our chances of survival are really slim!"

"If we're going to die, why are you so cheerful?" I asked.

"Don't you realize that beast was the master? The master has just risked his life to save that lady! Surely it's a good sign! He's never done something kind for someone else before!" she explained.

"If I live, I will never again attempt to take another life," I said.

"We all feel that way," she responded.

Finding food was harder than ever, but we managed. One day I noticed my sister was unusually quiet, so I asked her what was wrong.

"You idiot, do I have to be the only one who keeps track of everything?" She sighed. "Today's the last day. If the master doesn't fall in love today, we'll be injured wolves forever."

I refused to admit how terrified I was.

"I've just spent the last ten years of my life as one of the most despised creatures in France! I should have had a husband and children by now!" she continued.

I didn't reply. What was there left to say? None of us deserved this fate that the master had brought on us, but there was no escape.

That night, Louve and I stayed awake as our friends tried to sleep. Finally the hour came when she said the dreaded words.

"Midnight," she whispered. "It's too late now. I might as well get some rest." She tried to get comfortable so she could sleep.

I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes, wondering why it had to end this way. Then I suddenly fell. Keeping my eyes shut, I tried to figure out why I had fallen. Then I opened my eyes and saw my outstretched arms in front of me. I noticed I had hands. _Hands!_

Quickly I felt my face. Skin was where fur used to be, and my ears were no longer on top of my head. I tried to stand but couldn't, so I crawled to the stream and saw the reflection of a human being. Looking up, I saw fireworks over the castle. I called my sister's name.

She sat up. "Yes, Loup?" She gasped. "You're human again!" She put her hand in front of her face. "_I'm_ human again! We're free! The spell is broken!"

Louve ran to wake the others, letting them know the spell was over. She then helped me stand. We escorted our employees to the castle.

Mrs. Potts was hugging her son, Chip. "My boy! Now you will have a normal childhood!"

The master was embracing all his servants. Everyone was laughing and rejoicing. When we walked in, everybody became silent.

"I thought you were dead," Cogsworth stated. "None of us have seen any of you in the castle for years."

"There was no need for us to come," I replied.

Prince Adam approached us. "Do I know you?"

I tried to bow and ended up falling down. "Your Highness hired us to guard the royal forest. Your Majesty may not remember us because you were very young then, Sire."

He smiled. "It's wonderful to see you again! Without your protection, the forest has become a haven for wolves!" He pushed up his sleeve to show me the scars on his arm.

I felt so guilty that I wanted to be buried alive.

The prince helped me to my feet. "How did you break your leg?"

I wanted to confess everything, but I just couldn't. "It's been that way ever since I can remember," I lied.

He didn't ask how my sister broke her arm. Our friends got lucky. Although they were also injured during the fight, their fractures healed properly. Ours didn't.

Although I was elated to be human again, it was heartbreaking not to be able to walk. I am not bragging when I say I used to be the fastest runner in France, for I had once happened to meet an athlete and challenged him to a race. Naturally, I had been the victor.

I sat in a comfortable chair and watched the other servants dance at the grand ball that Prince Adam held in honor of Belle.

"Enough of this!" Louve exclaimed. "You are going to dance if I have to drag you out of this chair, and you will walk again someday!"


	6. Chapter 6:  Confession

**Chapter Six: Confession**

I had thought my sister was joking, but she managed to pull me out of the chair. This was quite an accomplishment, considering one of her arms was broken.

"The other servants are dancing to celebrate the end of the spell. We will dance too!" she insisted. "We have just as much right!"

We must have looked ridiculous. She danced while I held onto her shoulders for balance and hopped on the one foot I could still use.

"See? You're dancing! Walking will be easy!"

My sister refused to let me hold onto anything for balance when I walked. Every day, she forced me to hop short distances. Then she made me try to use both feet. Eventually I reached the point where I could walk with a very bad limp, but I still had trouble going up and down flights of stairs.

"Hop up the stairs and slide down the railing," she suggested.

It worked so well that I still use that method to this day. Gradually, my limp lessened a little.

"Now you are walking properly!" my sister announced one day. "You'll never lose your limp, but what does that matter?"

I felt bad. I could adapt to life with a limp, but my sister would never be able to use her broken arm again. She always pretended it didn't bother her and that one arm was just as good as two, but I could tell she was just saying that to make me feel better.

During our fight, Prince Adam had given me a long speech in no uncertain terms about what he would do to me if I ever got within ten feet of Belle, so I made sure to treat her with the utmost respect at all times. When Prince Adam married Belle, I was even more polite since she was now my master. I stopped thinking of her as "Belle" or "the young peasant woman" and started thinking of her by royal titles, making sure to address her as royalty every time I spoke to her.

One day a messenger came to the castle. The king of France had decided that the pressures of ruling a kingdom were too much for him to handle.

"What does this mean?" Prince Adam asked kindly.

"It means, Sire, that you are no longer a prince. Your father has abdicated," the messenger explained.

"Abdicated?"

"Don't worry. You will surely like the new king."

"What makes you say that?"

"He abdicated to you. You are now the ruler of France, Your Majesty." The messenger bowed.

Only weeks after becoming a princess, Her Majesty became queen. She and the former prince had a magnificent coronation ceremony.

"Long live King Adam! Long live Queen Belle!" we shouted.

About the time that life finally settled into a comfortable routine, the queen announced that the kingdom would have a new little prince or princess. The king was thrilled, as we all were. However, we were completely shocked when the queen had twins.

The two children were complete opposites. Forgive my candor, but the prince was a real coward. He was afraid of everyone and everything. The princess, on the other hand, seemed to have inherited her father's former temper. She loved to throw things and have tantrums. Fortunately, they mellowed out as they got older. Now they are both very sweet children.

Louve dotes on them. "They are like the children I was never meant to have," she always says.

I feel bad for her not having her own family. She would have been a good wife and mother. I suppose she could still be, but she seems to have given up hope of ever falling in love.

I almost hoped to fall in love once. The masters had sent me to town on an errand of some sort, and I met a charming young woman. We got to talking and found out we had a lot in common. After several meetings, we realized we were best friends. It got to the point where we did almost everything together. Neither of us felt anything more than friendship, but I had a feeling we would one day love each other.

Yesterday she confessed, "My dearest friend, I can no longer keep any secrets from you. All this time, you've been thinking I was a peasant, but I'm not. I am King Adam's cousin. I disguised myself as a commoner so I could truly understand how life was for my cousin's subjects. I shouldn't have worried. They all say he's a great king, and his wife is a wonderful queen, of course."

"His cousin?" I asked. "Years ago, did you not remove an arrow from between a wolf's ribs?"

She laughed softly. "Yes I did. She was suffering, and I helped her get better. How'd you know about that story?"

I wasn't about to confess that the wolf was actually my sister during a spell, so I just replied, "I work in the royal forest. It's my job to know about incidents involving wild animals."

"You're my cousin's servant?"

"I'm so sorry. I should have told you before."

She smiled. "Kind of ironic for you being best friends with your master's cousin, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Ironic, but not at all unpleasant."

I didn't have the heart to tell her what I was during the spell. If she ever finds out I wounded her cousin, it will end our friendship! However, if I keep it a secret forever, she'll wonder why I didn't tell her something that important, and our friendship will still be over. That's how I know I will never fall in love with this woman. There's no way I can even have her as a friend for much longer.

Mrs. Potts wanted to know what was troubling my heart. Tonight she found out. My sister and I confessed everything. We used to be wolves, and now we are outcasts. We wake up every day dreading the thought of the masters and the royal children finding out about our past. Louve will never again be able to use both arms, and I will never be able to walk without limping.

The most amazing thing was what happened after we told the story. Mrs. Potts looked at us and asked why we had given up.

"Is there still reason to hope for anything good?" Louve asked.

"Listen to the two of you talking that way!" Mrs. Potts exclaimed. "When you were beggars, did you ever dream you'd work for royalty? When you first became servants, did you think His Majesty would one day be a good master? When you were wolves, did you believe you would one day be human again? Have you honestly come this far just to quit now?"

Her tone became more gentle. "Everybody makes mistakes. Everyone can be forgiven. As for your injured limbs, why haven't you spoken with the royal physicians?"

I sighed. "Medical science is not yet advanced enough to…"

"You forget this used to be an enchanted castle. Perhaps the doctors here know more than most. Besides, if they can't help you, there may be magical beings somewhere who can."

She has a point. Tomorrow I will try to explain my story to the masters. I will kneel and beg their forgiveness. Then I will ask the royal physicians for advice. If they aren't able to do anything, I will try to find someone with magical powers and see if they will give me the ability to walk again in exchange for a sort of favor. After that is resolved, I will find my best friend, the king's cousin, and tell her everything. I'll apologize to her for nearly killing her cousin during the spell and ask her to forgive me. I hope we'll be able to work this out.

Tomorrow it seems I will be very busy, but now the hour grows late, and I must rise early for chores. Tonight I will go to bed and dream of the happiness I hope to find. _Bonne nuit, mes amis._


End file.
